Gardening Couple Brings One-of-a-Kind Ornamental Grassland Garden to Ohio Valley
Open House Planned for Guernsey County Attraction
A couple is busy growing grasses in an Ornamental Grassland Garden that will be the only one of its kind in the United States on The Farm at Old World Garden near Quaker City.
The Grassland Gardens is a garden based upon ornamental grasses. The project will take three years to complete. Owners Jim and Mary Competti planted a couple thousand plants so far, including a variety of 24 ornamental grasses, in phase I of the project.
When completed, the project will cover nine and a half acres of a 46-acre farm on Pisgah Road south of I-70 between Fairview and Middlebourne.
The couple, originally from Nashport, owned a farm of three acres in Licking County, and after it sold, started looking for land that was within an hour of the old farm, landing in Quaker City. Jim and Mary said they chose this property because it’s off a major highway.
The pair bought the land in October 2020, cleaning it out for a year. Builders laid the first concrete blocks January 2022.
What started as a property with a dilapidated barn, old mobile homes, junk cars, piles of garbage and overrun land, is now an area equipped with a party barn and event center, one-mile walking path, pond and pavilion area with a pickleball court, three sleeping cabins, three and a half miles of hiking trails, a courtyard area, a meadow and wedding pavilion and two Airbnb houses.
The farm will eventually have additions, including a glass atrium, a miniature model train that weaves through the garden, another Airbnb house and the next phases of the Grassland Garden.
The event center and party barn light up at night at The Farm at Old World Garden, owned by Jim and Mary Competti. Photo provided.
A 29-feet deep pond is fully stocked with bass, bluegill and koi fish. Beside the garden is a building where the Competti’s live for now until it becomes a restaurant or winery in the future.
The inspiration for the farm came when the Competti’s started their gardening website 15 years ago with the intention of a diary with gardening tips as a hobby. Now, they have nearly one million followers across their platforms and more than 150 million visitors from 240 countries to their website every year.
“We never really intended it to be a website for other people,” Jim said. “We kind of wrote about the farm we were building over there. Mary would put some recipes on. I would do a garden article now and then, and we would do garden articles together. It just went from 25 followers to 50 followers. We just enjoyed writing.”
As Tim and Mary’s website kept growing, Mary started a recipe site, while Tim started a gardening site where they published articles.
Now, the pair operates six websites, a podcast and Youtube channel. Mary retired from her occupational therapy job in 2017, and Jim retired from his marketing job in 2018. The pair’s main website holds more information and links to its other platforms.
After the couple’s venture took off, Jim and Mary started touring the country, visiting all 50 states, and public speaking for a year about gardening. The pair have also written two books together, including Raised Row Gardening and Growing Simple: The Story of Old World Garden Farms.
Jim said the tour taught the pair a lot and gave the two a vision of what they wanted to do.
“Our kids at that point were all out of the house,” Jim said. “So we’re like, ‘If we’re ever going to do this, do it now because we don’t have grandkids.’ So we had a blast, and that gave us the idea that maybe we could do a little bit more.”
Mary said the farm already receives visitors from all over the country, usually unannounced as they pass through the area.
Owners of The Farm at Old World Garden, Jim and Mary Competti, stand with a cabin at their farm that the public can rent. Photo by Josie Burkhart.
“Most of the people that come here are out of towners. They don’t know the area, and they love the woods and the deer, but they also just love the quiet and solitude,” Jim said. “But when we see them sitting out here cooking or playing pickleball, that’s what makes us happy. We built something people want to do.”
The couple added they wanted to create a presence locally for the Ohio Valley, so they are building the Grassland Gardens and walkways for visitors to enjoy. Jim added the event spaces and amenities of the farm give the community more options for things to do.
Jim and Mary invite the public to their open house from noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 23 at the farm at Old World Garden, 65780 Pisgah Rd., Quaker City, to tour the farm and its amenities. The couple will serve light refreshments. A ribbon cutting will take place prior to the open house at 2 p.m. Aug. 21.
“Everybody always asks us the question, ‘So it’s Old Garden Farm, what do you sell? It’s a farm,’” Jim said. “Mary and I have a good answer for that. We grow happiness when you come here. We want you to leave being happy.”
The Farm at Old World Garden, owned by Jim and Mary Competti, includes a pavilion and pond area with a pickleball court. Photo provided.
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